My Thoughts

Project HOPE

I am always very excited when I see young people especially Nigerians trying to make a difference in the society.

I was very touched when a group of young guys under the aegis of Team Adamas (they are thirty in number and the oldest would be about 25 years) approached me to discuss a charity work they tagged PROJECT HOPE.

Project Hope is an initiative of Team Adamas with the objective of contributing to the education sector in our society.
The team set out to look around for the worst schools in Lagos with the sole aim of rehabilitating and renovating same. After several visits to different schools in the metropol they decided to start with a secondary school named Aje Comprehensive High School located at the heart of Sabo-Yaba about 100 metres from the Sabo Roundabout in Yaba.

I gathered from personal findings and also from the team that this school had been built since 1979 with the aim of providing free Education to Nigerian kids. However, it is very sad to say that it has since been neglected with no renovations or even maintenance ever made. It is more disturbing that students sit on the floor to receive lectures. The poor state of the buildings does not keep the harsh weather conditions out with a lot of kids falling sick often and when the rainy seasons come students are literally beaten by rain during classes.

There was an incident a couple of weeks ago when one of the students managed to escape death when the roof collapsed. The classroom walls have collapsed and the foundation is receding. The school lacks infrastructure with classroom furniture below acceptable standard.

During one of my meetings with Team Adamas, one of them told me while showing the pictures of the school (see below) that “these students are a group of brilliant people struggling to study, survive and achieve success in a society that shuns illiteracy and we are determined to give them a new opportunity of a better life.

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I was particularly touched by the amount of efforts, time and thoughts that has gone into this initiative and I can say from what I have seen, the enthusiasm of this team is very rare. They have set a target of three weeks for themselves to raise a total sum of NGN 3 million – in cash or kind – towards the execution of the project accordingly.

I have personally taken my time to visit the school to ascertain the level of decadence and so I am convinced and compelled to support them in whatever way I can. Hence my humble request that you kindly support this worthy initiative.

I am happy to inform you that so far in the last couple of weeks, the team has raised over NGN 1.2 million and I believe, with your help, they can and would be able put smiles on the faces of the students of this school.

One of the team members once said “I am particularly passionate about this because by the time we are done, we would have successfully helped 360 pupils learn better, in a more comfortable atmosphere, put smiles on their faces”. I believe they can achieve this because, with the money raised and other items gathered (and the ones to come), they intend to replace the roofing, re-build walls, restructure the foundation, provide writing materials, and completely turn around the current state of the school.

I believe not everyone can contribute in cash but the team would be glad to have items donated in kind. Nothing is small or too big for this project. We need Cements, bricks and other building materials to help raise the fallen classroom walls. The Walls to be built would need to be covered so we are desirous of roofing materials. The students would need to sit on proper and comfortable seats when the classrooms are eventually ready. The team would also like to give the school books and other writing materials. We would be more fulfilled if we can leave behind Air-Conditioned classrooms and possibly a computer studio in the school. We believe all these are achievable with your assistance.

I shall, through this page, keep everyone of our donors and general public informed about the development and level of work done on a weekly basis. In the end when the project is completed the team shall also publish the statement of account and pictures of the new school.

If you desire to support this project by providing items in kind (or donation in cash) towards this project kindly leave a comment below and we shall get in touch with you directly through your e-mail.

Bill Clinton in his book Giving quoted Mark Grashow saying “I believe that each of us has an obligation to level the playing field of life. Schools that have no books, communities without water, and people without access to medical care are not someone else’s problem. We all have a capacity to make a difference somewhere. We just have to decide if we have the will to do it”.

When asked why she’s involved in the project, Adeola one of the team members said “often, Nigerian people complain about the government and how corrupt it is but people rarely ever rise up to do anything about it. Well I’m done complaining. I just want to start helping”.

This is a call to action and opportunity to do whatever you can to help give the students of Aje Comprehensive High School, Sabo-Yaba a chance to live out their dreams.